Meyer: Coenie up there with the best
The naysayers will come out in a chorus to air their disapproval, but Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is standing by prop Coenie Oosthuizen.
Meyer named the same starting line-up that beat New Zealand a month ago, to face Ireland in the opening Test of the year-end Tests on Dublin on Saturday. The only change to the South African matchday squad is at replacement prop, where the injured Marcel van der Merwe is replaced by Oosthuizen.
Meyer was happy to have some continuity, given the quality of the opposition, and remained adamant that the injury-prone Oosthuizen is – at this stage – a better choice on the bench than the in-form Lions front row forward Julian Redelinghuys.
The Bok coach made reference to injuries that ruled out props Marcel van der Merwe and Frans Malherbe, leaving his team a bit thin in terms of tighthead resources.
"Jannie [du Plessis] has been a warrior for the Boks," Meyer told a media scrum at the team's training base in Dublin.
"He now had a good break," he said of the month-long break after the Rugby Championship, adding: "I have always rated Coenie [Oosthuizen].
"I still believe his best position is loosehead prop and he is only 25. We have a lot of great loosehead props in the country, so we needs to develop and find tighthead props.
"Unfortunately for Coenie he has really been struggling with his neck and he also struggled with his scrummaging."
Meyer said Oosthuizen's improved conditioning and familiarity with the Bok systems is what makes him an obvious choice on the bench – ahead of Redelinghuys.
"I have never seen Coenie train as hard and being in such great shape as he has been the last few weeks," the Bok mentor said.
"He has been brilliant and he is a great impact player as well.
"In the past, when he played in these [Northern Hemisphere] conditions, he did very well for us in the scrums against France.
"Although he is our fourth [in line at] tighthead, I believe he is up there with the best. He is young enough and can develop into a great tighthead.
"He also gives us the option of being able to play at loosehead and tighthead.
"Julian [Redelinghuys] is a more recognised tighthead, but he has only been with us for a few days after the [Currie Cup] Final. There are a lot of line-out calls to learn and a lot of moves to learn, so it would be unfair to throw him [Redelinghuys] straight in [at the deep end].
"It makes Coenie an obvious choice – he is in good form and I am looking forward to see how he performs [against Ireland]."
Meyer said while Oosthuizen is a bit short on game time, having played only three Currie Cup games after coming back from injury, he is still the right option for Saturday's tour opener.
"I would have liked for him to have played a few more games, but it was not to be. Keep in mind Jean [de Villiers] was out for 10 weeks, then came back and did well. Also, a guy like Duane [Vermeulen] was out for eight weeks at one stage and came back.
"The great thing about him [Oosthuizen] is that there's no issue with his fitness.
"I haven't seen him in this good condition for quite some time. Yes, he does need scrum time and scrum fitness, but that only comes by playing."
The Bok coach said the value Oosthuizen brings as an impact player in the final quarter of a match can't be ignored.
"If something [unforeseen] should happen to Jannie [du Plessis], I believe he [Oosthuizen] is good enough to go for 80 minutes.
"I truly believe there is a difference between a replacement and an impact player. The games are mostly won in the last 10 minutes, because there is not a big difference between the top eight teams in the world.
"I always like to have impact players and Coenie is up there with the best I have coached, as an impact player.
"I've been criticised for the use of my bench, people suggesting it disrupts the flow of the game, but we have always found that the guys coming on make an impact for us and they know beforehand more-or-less when they will come on.
"We have an unbelievable bench and it is a strategy that you have to use and often that is the difference between winning and losing a game."
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